Personal Finance Blogs
Featuring the Best Personal Finance Blog Articles
Today's Investing Blog Articles
View articles only on the topic you search below.
Thinking about buying property when you’re already carrying debt? It’s a bit like a juggling act, really. On the one hand, you’re gripping bills that need to be cleared, but on the other hand, you have a shiny new key to unlock property investments that can give you a way to clear the debts. You could open the door, but will it give you the right path or just land you in more financial bother? […]
One of the earliest goals I set when I started dividend investing was simple: could my passive dividend income someday cover my mortgage? Fast forward 13 to 14 years of consistent investing and dividend compounding, and that milestone is now reality. My dividend income from my taxable account not only pays the monthly principal and interest on the mortgage, it gives me extra cash each month that I can apply directly to principal to speed […]
For those who have been living under a rock, let’s hope it was gold, because the shiny metal is up over 50% year-to-date (YTD) compared with 18% for the S&P 500 (with dividends). With this recent outperformance by gold, some are starting to question whether investing in stocks still makes sense. For example, I saw a chart like this going viral which compared the growth of $1 invested in gold versus the S&P 500 since January 2000: As you can see, gold has outperformed the S&P 500 (with dividends) by nearly 2x since 2000. After seeing something like this it’s easy to question why you would ever own stocks. If a glittering rock can outperform productive businesses, what’s the point of owning stocks at all? While this comparison is technically accurate, it’s also quite misleading. Not only were U.S. stocks in the midst of their largest bubble ever (during the DotCom boom), but gold was still down over 50% from its highs in the late 1970s. By starting in the year 2000, you are comparing U.S. stocks at their most expensive to gold near its cheapest. This is the Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul comparison of investing. One was out of their prime and the other wasn’t. I can similarly stack the deck against gold by starting the performance comparison in January 2012, as gold reached new all-time highs. If you did so, you would see that the S&P 500 outperformed gold by 2.7x since then: So which is it? Is investing in gold a better bet than stocks? Or is the yellow ore bound to disappoint? Truthfully, it’s a bit of both. Over long periods of time, U.S. stocks tend to outperform gold. You can see this in the chart below which shows the growth of $1 invested in the S&P 500 versus gold since 1990: That’s a 4x difference in return over the last 35 years. However, there are also periods where gold absolutely crushes U.S. stocks. The 1970s were one such period. During this decade, gold was up 1,365% while U.S. stocks only ended up 76% (from Ben Carlson’s recent post on why he doesn’t own any gold): Can you imagine not owning gold when this happened? It would’ve been one of the most FOMO-inducing moments in investment history. This is one of the reasons why gold remains popular as an asset class. Though it usually underperforms, it has rare moments where it triumphs. And in these triumphs it can be quite effective in a diversified portfolio. But what’s happening with gold today? It’s outperforming, yet U.S. stocks aren’t struggling. The investment environment is nothing like the 1970s or 2000s, so what’s going on? Warren Pies summarized the sentiment shift perfectly a few months ago: The fear of losing ground (i.e., purchasing power) is replacing the fear of losing principal. Investors have a lot of anxiety around the stability of the U.S. dollar with soaring debt levels, an ongoing trade war, and the
An old friend called me the other day and while catching up, we got onto the subject of investing. With all the uncertainty in the world, with artificial intelligence and large language models constantly evolving, and with market valuations as high as they are… what’s an investor to do? Where should we be putting our money? You can make a case for almost anything. The market is overvalued and so buying the S&P 500 when the Shiller PE Ratio is at 40 feels insane. The mean ratio is around 17. But the market has been performing well! And has performed well even at such lofty ratio levels! Add to that how AI and LLMs are upending the world. I do not envy the position high schoolers are in right now when deciding what to do with their lives. Law and coding do not seem like fields where you will have a good time as an entry level employee. While it feels uncertain, one thing that we forget is that the future is always uncertain. The market is overvalued? Invest anyway. The economy looks weak? Invest anyway. AI is taking over? Invest anyway. But you must take action in spite of that uncertainty. We won’t know what the stock market will do in the next week. Or month. Or year. The Fed will make it’s decisions, the markets will react, and maybe we will enter a recession. Maybe not. The media has been talking about a recession for two or three years, but it has yet to materialize. Or impact the stock the market. But in the long run, we believe it’ll go up. Which is why it’s still smart to make contributions to your retirement, even if the PE ratios are insane. To hammer this home, I want to show you two charts: First, there’s always a reason to sell. (Or not buy.) It comes from Ritholtz Wealth Management and shows how historically there’s always a reason to sell your stocks. Bad jobs numbers. Fear of recession. Pandemic. It’s a non-stop stream of bad news. And, honestly, it’s quite compelling. There are bumps along the way. Sometimes big ones. But notice the S&P 500 chugs along up and to the right. This next chart comes from A Wealth of Common Sense and shows the return of the market over different time horizons. It shows your annual rate of return based on when you started investing (the column) and how long you waited (the row): If you invested in 2000, you had negative annualized returns for six years before turning positive. If you invested in 2008, you had four years of negative returns before turning positive. Those are big bumps. But the table is overwhelmingly green. And the red chunks are during periods of massive upheaval – the dot com bubble and the Great Recession. The pandemic hardly registers a blip! Now may not be the best time to invest in the stock market. Maybe you should wait until
🎙️Episode #454 – What if you could earn 50% more rent without the headaches of Airbnb? Discover how midterm rentals give investors higher returns with… The post The Rental Strategy Most Investors Are Missing Right Now appeared first on Coach Carson.
The stock market outlook continues to show an uptrend for U.S. equities.
I’m back with a Dividend Income update after taking several months off. Life has been absolutely crazy lately and I appreciate everyone’s patience. September was a fantastic dividend income month for me, as we crossed over $5,000. In this post, we will review my September Dividend Income total and share a few observations about the passive income stream. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Why I Invest in Dividend Stocks I invest in dividend stocks to […]
When I first thought about investing, I wasn’t sure where to start. Was I supposed to pick stocks like Warren Buffett? Buy a rental property? Try crypto because that guy at the gym swore it was “the future”? It felt overwhelming. But here’s the truth: investing doesn’t have to be complicated. You don’t need a finance degree or a Wall Street suit. What you do need are a few key principles, investing secrets that don’t […]
I had always dreamed of working for myself and making passive income from home, but it took years of toiling until I finally figured it out. Then, on a whim, I decided to learn how to sell digital products on Etsy. Now, I’ve made over $500,000 in passive income from home. Here are my 5 tips for getting started making passive income from home with very little money. 1. Start with one passive income source […]
In an increasingly volatile world, global conflict has far-reaching consequences, not just for geopolitics, but also for the stock market. Two sectors that consistently react to international tensions are defense and energy. When instability arises, nations boost military spending and seek to secure energy supplies, often triggering rapid shifts in these markets. In this article, we’ll explore how geopolitical unrest influences defense and energy stocks, what investors should watch for, and how to strategically position […]
You’re ready to invest, but you don’t know where to start. That’s how most beginner investors feel. The good news is that getting started doesn’t have to be complicated. Today, I’m sharing investing tips for beginners that helped me stay consistent, avoid costly mistakes, and ultimately build my first million dollars by my 30s. Whether you’re just opening your first brokerage account or looking to level up your investing habits, these simple steps will help […]
At a Glance: Housing starts and permits have fallen sharply in 2025. Real estate markets are floundering. That doesn’t bother me in the least, and it shouldn’t bother you either In the five months from March to August, residential construction permits fell 10.2%. (We don’t have data for September, because we don’t have a functioning government.) From February to August, housing starts fell 12.3%. Why are homebuilders pulling back? Even more importantly, what does all this mean for us as real estate investors? Disclaimer The information provided on this website is for general informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal, financial, or investment advice. Always consult a licensed real estate consultant and/or financial advisor about your investment decisions. Real estate investing involves risks; past performance does not indicate future results. We make no representations or warranties about the accuracy or reliability of the information provided. Our articles may have affiliate links. If you click on an affiliate link, the affiliate may compensate our website at no cost to you. You can view our Privacy Policy here for more information. Drop in New Construction The housing market isn’t what it was during and after the pandemic. Nationwide, Zillow reports flat (0.1%) home price growth year-over-year. In many markets, home prices have fallen 2-5%. Rents have fared even worse, falling 0.4% over the last year. Plus, higher interest rates have led to higher cap rates, which caused multifamily properties to drop 25-30% in value from 2022 to 2025. You can see why homebuilders aren’t so keen to start new projects right now. (article continues below) Real estate investments? Awesome. Being a landlord? Less fun. Learn how to earn 15%+ on passive real estate investments in our free video course. Access Free Course What’s Coming in 2026? After a surge in new construction between 2021-2025, a breather in homebuilding will help demand catch up to new supply. That will drive rents higher in 2026. RCL summarizes it like this: “Slowing new supply and strong renter demand set the stage for tighter markets and rising rents in 2026 and beyond.” What About Interest Rates? The Federal Reserve has signaled lower interest rates in late 2025 through 2026. Lower interest rates mean lower cap rates, which mean higher property prices. All of which makes now a tempting time to invest in real estate projects – if you plan to hold for a few years. Flippers? They’ll likely struggle over the next year. Want to compare investment property loans? What do lenders charge for a rental property mortgage? What credit scores and down payments do they require? How about fix-and-flip loans? We compare the best purchase-rehab lenders and long-term landlord loans on LTV, interest rates, closing costs, income requirements and more. Compare
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is no longer reserved for research labs and tech giants—it’s now empowering everyday people to make smarter decisions in their daily lives. One area where this transformation is especially evident is in the financial sector. As we detailed in How AI Is Helping Everyday Investors Make Smarter Decisions , intelligent applications powered by AI are helping the average investor—often referred to as the “average Joe”—access tools that were once exclusive to…